Baby food recalled in Austria after jar tests positive for rat poison

Baby food manufacturer HiPP has issued a product recall in Austria after authorities reported the presence of rat poison in one of the company’s jars.

HiPP said on Sunday that it had pulled all baby food sold at stores operating under the SPAR umbrella in Austria, including outlets of EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt.

The Swiss company, which bills itself as the world’s top organic baby food brand, said the recall was not due to quality problems in its production processes.

“The jars left our HiPP facility in perfect condition. The recall is related to a criminal act currently under investigation by the authorities,” the company said in a statement published on its website.

The Sachseln-based firm added that it was in “close and continuous contact” with investigating authorities.

“Due to the ongoing investigations, we can share only confirmed information relevant to consumer safety,” the statement said.

The move comes after police in Austria’s eastern state of Burgenland urged the public to exercise caution following the discovery of a tampered jar of “Carrots with Potatoes” baby food.

“With the involvement of the Federal Criminal Police Office, a sample of the seized product was examined on Saturday afternoon and tested positive for rat poison,” the Burgenland State Criminal Police Office said in a statement.

Police said the jar was reported by a customer and had not been consumed.

HiPP baby food seized by authorities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia was also found to contain an unspecified “toxic additive” following laboratory testing, the Burgenland police said.

Police advised the public to avoid jars that have a white sticker with a red circle on the bottom of the jar, a damaged lid, a missing safety seal, or an unusual smell.

The Czech Republic’s Ministry of Health said on Sunday that police had seized two contaminated jars of baby food in the eastern city of Brno.

Officials were working to assess the risk to local consumers and had implemented “inspection and preventive measures”, the ministry said.

The Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety urged anyone experiencing symptoms of poisoning to consult a doctor.

Symptoms of ingesting rat poison, which interferes with the body’s use of vitamin K, include bleeding, extreme weakness and paleness, and typically take two to five days to appear, according to the food safety agency.